Rivers Edge

Winding along rolling bluffs and through spectacular marshland along the Shallotte River, Rivers Edge Golf Club offers breathtaking scenery and a challenging test of golf. The Arnold Palmer signature course features six holes sitting on bluffs over the river with several greens that blend seamlessly into surrounding tidal marshes. Opened in 1999 near Shallotte, N.C., Rivers Edge has been honored among America’s top 100 public courses by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine and selected as one of the top five public access courses in North Carolina by Golfweek.

Rivers Edge is among the most challenging golf courses anywhere, sporting a 74.7 rating and a 149 slope from the back tees, which measure 6,909 yards. The greens, many of which are elevated above sparkling white bunkers and water hazards, are covered in paspalum grass greens, the easy-to-drain putting surface enjoyed at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. The course is very playable for higher handicappers from the four other tees, which range from 6,440 down to 4,692 yards. 

The ninth hole at Rivers Edge is one of the Myrtle Beach area’s most-talked about signature holes. Measuring 570 yards from the back markers with the Shallotte River extending along the entire left side of the dogleg left and bisecting the fairway on the second shot, the par-5 requires three accurate shot. Strategic bunkers grab bailouts to the right on both layups and aggressive second shots. The finishing hole, a modest-length par-4 at 390 from the tips, bends the opposite way, making a delicate fade over water off the tee the perfect shot to leave a short approach, though long hitters must contend with a bunker that sprawls across much of the fairway 70 yards from the green.